


RunawayRonpa: Let's Play For Hope!

by arizonia1



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, TheRunawayGuys
Genre: Execution, Explosions, Gen, Murder Mystery, Stabbing, Trials, first person POV, it's Danganronpa, you know what you're in for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2019-09-18 08:52:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16991889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arizonia1/pseuds/arizonia1
Summary: Welcome to Kiibocon! A place where hope and passion collide! A tale of sixteen lucky gamers have gathered as special guest attendees to see what all the fuss is about. Only to find more than they bargained for





	1. Prologue/Chapter 1: A Warm Welcome of Despair - Daily Life

“Hey. Wake up.”  
  
A voice cuts through the darkness around me. There was a certain weight to the air, like I was suddenly much heavier myself. I’m not sure what is going on, but that voice was clear as day. It sounds… familiar.

“I said. WAKE UP!”

I jolt awake as the voice shouts at me. I’m staring straight up, vision blurry. It takes me a couple seconds to get it to clear up. The ceiling above me is an off-white, and I can make out a faint green color on the walls. Where the heck am I? It’s like I was waking up for the first time ever, yet I know that’s not right.  
  
“You alive?”  
  
On slightly shaky arms, I manage to get myself sitting up. I realize I’ve been lying on a bed. That’s weird. I swear I was standing up only a couple minutes ago. God, I feel heavy. Did I fall asleep? Ignoring how I ended up here, I turn to see who’s been talking to me this entire time. Masae is standing there, her arms folded across her chest, with her usual glare boring holes into my skull, that lets me know immediately that she’s annoyed.  
  
She flicks her head slightly to get her bangs out of her left eye, only for them to fall back in place. “You’re going to miss the opening ceremony. I know _I’m_ not about to miss it.”  
  
I must have had a dumbfounded look on my face when she mentioned “opening ceremony”.  
  
“You _do_ remember that… right?” Her stance relaxs a little as I drag myself out of the bed, ready to catch me given how shaky my knees are. “You had a pretty nasty fall after… we learned about our situation.”  
  
Swallowing a lump in my throat, I nod. “Yeah. I remember that.”  
  
The two of us make our way to my door. Masae walks out first, and turns to wait for me in the middle of the hallway. Her arms cross against her chest again as I pull the door closed behind me, making sure it latches. There’s a name plate on the door, not that that’s important right now. Nervously, I place a hand to my neck and give it a rub, sighing loudly. Were my shoulders always _this_ tense? The muscle refuses to give even a little.  
  
“So… mind if I run over what happened with you?” I ask her, turning away from the door so we can start heading towards the stairs. “A lot sort of… happened at once.”  
  
“Yeah. Sure.” Casual as ever I see, Masae.  
  
We slowly padded down the stairs at the end of the hallway of wherever we are, my steps heavier than hers, my body still trying to wake up. Masae confirms with me that we had been waiting for the opening ceremony for the convention we’re at downstairs in the hotel. All of this sounds familiar to me, so at least it makes sense. We round a corner to go down another flight of stairs as I ask about how many people there was with us. It was only about sixteen of us. It’s really odd, we’re at a convention and there’s only _sixteen_ people at the opening ceremony? That has to be on purpose…  
  
Thinking back to before I seemingly passed out, I had seen Jon talking with Lucah. Annoyed, as usual, but at least I know it wasn’t directed at me. Other than that, I remember seeing Tim, Stephen, Mallory, Tom… Right. Tom was oddly happy despite the seemingly desolate situation. I think Ari was next to him but she didn’t seem at all concerned about what was going on, her headphones were covering her ears and she had been fiddling with her music.  
  
Before I could continue on with that train of thought, another voice cut in. Surprisingly chipper sounding, despite our situation.  
  
“About time you decided to join us, Emile!” Tom shouts, a beaming grin plastered on his face. “We were thinking you’d be out the rest of the day!”  
  
I open my mouth to speak, about to ask how long I’ve been out, only for Tom to get shoved out of the way by someone else. Can’t say I recognize this person. Her hair is a deep purple and she’s got a green trench coat and combat boots on. Apparently she’s the most annoyed about been kept waiting, as she taps the imaginary watch on her wrist.  
  
“Took you long enough. The Opening Ceremony has been delayed at least two hours now.”  
  
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take so long.” Great response, Emile. You nailed it.  
  
Before I can dig myself into an even bigger hole, I turn my attention away from this girl. Distantly, I can hear Ari call to her, I think I caught that her name is Sage. Doesn’t matter, I need to talk to Tom about something. I rest a hand on Masae’s shoulder, and tell her I’d be right back, gesturing vaguely in Tom’s direction. Her head tilts a little, bangs falling away from her eye, as if she was trying to ask me why I needed to talk to him. Can’t say I know that answer myself, I just have this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that there’s something important I need to discuss with him. What it is though, can’t recall. Something’s not right in my memory.  
  
Before I could even turn to get to Tom, I hear a sweet, melodic voice cut through the lobby. Just loud enough to get everyone’s attention, but certainly not shouting, like to instill fear. No, this one sounds soft and inviting. Whoever it is, they really want everyone’s attention, but weren’t going to be forceful about it. Masae and I are standing closest to the voice’s origin, with everyone at our backs. I could feel the tension rising in the room as the others are probably turning their attention to the voice.  
  
A receptionist’s desk isn’t too far from where we’re standing, and that’s where the voice seems to be coming from. Suddenly, from behind the desk a loud “boing” could be heard, and what appears to be a giant, fluffy, white rabbit plush pops out and rests her feet on the counter. She’s not entirely white, there’s grey patches on her fur, primarily on the right side of her face. She’s also sporting a frilly lavender dress, and a small magic wand in her paw.  
  
“I’m so happy to see everyone has gathered together at last! So calmly too!” The rabbit squeaked.  
  
I watched her ears flick a bit, as if waiting for a response. No one said anything, probably too scared or confused to. I felt another lump forming in my throat, especially when I open my mouth to speak. Words refused to form, dying on the tip of my tongue. Too many questions running through my head. Who is this rabbit? Why does she seem familiar? Still haven’t answered where we are yet. Honestly, what the heck is going on?  
  
“Oh, where are my manners?” She continued, a light giggle bubbling in her tone. “Welcome to Kiibocon! A gathering place of those who inspire Hope! I’m Usarotta, your Master of Ceremonies!”

  
Usarotta huh? Something seems off about her. Can’t place my finger on what though. On the surface she seems friendly enough. People were muttering behind me, but I couldn’t make out the words too well. So many voices were chattering at once that it made it impossible to focus on any one at a time.  
  
“Isn’t wonderful to live together in harmony?”  
  
With those words, the world went still. Everyone stopped mumbling to themselves and each other, and all eyes were on Usarotta. Her head cocked to the side and her ears flicked. Apparently, she was confused on our lack of reaction. Were we supposed to rejoice at her words? Something didn’t seem right here. Why would we all be “living” together in harmony? This is a convention. Right? At best we’ll be here all of four days and then be gone. Behind me I heard someone shift before, I think, Lucah shushed them. Must be grabbing onto Jon.  
  
“Good to see you chew toys aren’t about to believe just anything told to you!”  
  
A different voice. Louder this time. It booms with an air of mischief and deceit. I could commend that one though, they’ve got a set of lungs that would probably be able to rival my own yelling. Without further ado, a giant fluffy cat lands on top of Usarotta. He also looked familiar. Half of him was orange and striped with a glowing red eye, while the other half was totally white with an eyepatch. Kicking away the poor rabbit, the cat brandishes the claws on one of his paws with a sadistic sounding laugh.  
  
“With that talking Beanie Baby outta the way, we can get into the juicy meat of this shindig!” The cat roared. Man, he’s loud. “I’ll give that reject rabbit some credit though. You get to live here in this convention. Big whoop! That’s boring crap if you ask me! And MAN do I hate being bored!”  
  
The voices started muttering again, this time with more concern than confusion. What was this cat planning for us?  
  
“The name’s MonoBagel, and I’ll let you Frisky Bitz on a little something. This Con ain’t the peaceful vacation you were all hoping for! No sirre! We gotta spice things up for the audience here! Know how we’re gonna do that?”  
  
Silence was his only answer.  
  
“Uh… tough crowd. Anyway! You know what this Con needs? Blood. Despair. _Murder!_ You heard it here first, folks. This “Kiibocon” is now going to be the new home of a nice, little Killing Game! Once I let you “Inspirations of Hope” loose into the Convention halls and Zetsubo Hotel, you better watch your backs! You want me to let you out of this dump? Well, kill someone, and get away with it!”  
  
For the faintest moment, I dreaded the thought of seeing everyone else’s reactions. I could already see Masae standing there shocked beside me. Regardless, my body moved on its own and I somehow was forced to turn and look at everyone behind me. Plenty of people were understandably angry, like Jon, that girl Sage, Jules, and a long haired blond with glasses. Others seemed scared, or at least skeptical, like Tim, Jake, Stephen, Mallory, Adriana, Brandon, and a girl in a lab coat. Tom and Ari look unperturbed, and almost happy. A cocky grin was twitching on my own lips. Haha… why does this sound exciting? People’s lives are on the line here!  
  
Jon managed to push himself away from Lucah, and started to march closer to MonoBagel. His face was red with pure anger. Even if it’s Jon we’re talking about, him being this angry is actually really rare to see.  
  
“What do you mean we have to kill someone!? How fucked do you have to be to think we’d kill our friends or loved ones!? You have no control over us! We don’t have to listen to you!” His voice and hands started to shake when he mentioned friends and loved ones.  
  
Lucah wrapped her arms tightly against Jon’s back to try and keep him back. I don’t blame her, he looks ready to kill MonoBagel.  
  
Speaking of, that cat was laughing into his paws softly, before bursting into a maniacal cackle so loud it almost hurt _my_ ears. Almost.  
  
“Well, you guys _don’t_ have to listen to me! You have a couple of choices. Stay in this decrepit con for the rest of your days and rot, or you can kill someone and get out of here! Or, if ya would like it, I could take matters into my own paws, but I’m sure you don’t want _me_ to choose who dies.” His eye flashed menacingly as he spoke, staring right through Jon.  
  
Jon’s posture slouches as he instinctively reaches for Lucah’s arms wrapped tightly against his waist. MonoBagel sure knows how to scare people if Jon’s going to stand down that fast. Watching his bravado simmer away, MonoBagel starts laughing again as he grabs at his belly, knowing he hit Jon right where it would hurt. The threat of losing Lucah would be enough to deter him from trying anything. Despair already seems to be setting in.  
  
I turn back to look at MonoBagel head on. He was still laughing loudly, seeing just how fast he can instill fear. It was almost amusing in of itself.  
  
My grin must have been pretty obvious, as Masae pushed on my shoulder and glared at me.  
  
“How can you be so calm at a time like this!? Your life's on the line here!” She questioned.  
  
“My confidence you ask?” I respond, the words just coming out on their own. “Haha. It’s obviously because I’m the main character!”  
  
Before Masae could question my response, MonoBagel’s laughter ceased and he got everyone’s attention once more. He holds up a small card attached to a lanyard and waves it around in his paw.  
  
“I’m going to wish you suckers good luck, you’re gonna need it around here to hopefully not get yourself murdered! Before I go though I’ve got this nifty little doodad to let you sink your fangs into. I’m still working on these bad boys but ya better listen up! This is going to be your Con Pass, which will have all the information you’d like to know about each other, and let you get into most of the doors around here, like your hotel room! I’ll be merciful tonight and leave those suckers unlocked until my nighttime announcement. After that, you better be in there because those locks will be locked tighter than a baby-proof cabinet! So long you sardines!”  
  
Faintly I could hear Ari mumble about being able to open the lock herself if was just like a baby lock before MonoBagel let out one last hearty laugh before ducking behind the receptionist’s desk again. Once he disappeared Usarotta picked herself up and sat down on the counter, her ears drooping.  
  
Through heavy sobs the rabbit spoke. “I’m sorry about all this… P-please stay safe. Night time is coming up soon, so you may want to leave now…”  
  
Without another word, we watched Usarotta hop behind the counter, much like MonoBagel had done. With those two gone I felt myself relax. Why was I so stiff while they were around? Must be stress, given the situation we seem to be in now. I turn around and see everyone’s faces again. Their reactions are pretty similar to before. Jon seems to have settled down by now, with the looming threat of something happening to his wife disappearing along with MonoBagel and Usarotta.  
  
Jon breathes out a heavy sigh as he removes his glasses to pinch his nose. “Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t have any plans on dying. I’ll do anything to survive this bullshit. So, I’m going to go to bed. You guys can do whatever you want.” He turns as he grabs at Lucah’s hand before stopping for a moment and peers back at us from behind his shoulder. “I… I hope I see all of you in the morning, though.”  
  
Lucah turns to us to say something quickly before she lets Jon lead her away, “I’m not sure about all of you, but I’m going to follow Jon, no matter what. I hope to see all of you in the morning as well.”  
  
Following in Jon and Lucah’s footsteps, everyone starts to head back towards the hotel rooms. Probably for the best, everyone’s grown suspicious of one another. I see Ari motion over to the pair of girls I don’t recognize before talking. She calls them Roxie and Meg and asks if they’re cool with rooming with her and Brandon tonight for safety. The blond squeezes Ari into a tight side hug and promises she’ll wake her up for breakfast in the morning. Stephen is quickly ushering himself and Mal out of the lobby, scared out of his wits. Jules and Adri doing the same thing. Sage follows slightly behind everyone else, seemingly on her own for the night. As she passes Masae and I she apologizes for her behavior earlier. I assure her it wasn’t a big deal and we wish each other good night. Jake and Tim are amongst the last to leave the area, aside from myself, Masae, and Tom.  
  
Masae tugs at the side of my shirt a little and I take the hint we should leave as well. Leaving Tom behind, we trudge our way back to the stairs. It turns out the elevators are unavailable to use without the Con Passes, even then, it’s only one set of stairs to get to where all our rooms are. It’s eerily quiet in the halls of Zetsubo Hotel, but that may be because there’s no one else here besides us. Only now do I take the time to notice that all of the windows have been covered and bolted down by iron plates. How bizarre, why is there iron plates? Are we not allowed outside? A mystery for another day, I suppose.  
  
My room is only three doors down from the stairs, so at least I don’t have to walk so far. I notice that the name plate actually has my name on it now. So the rooms are assigned to us individually. To my room’s right is Jon’s, and then across the hall is Masae’s. We’re all pretty close together at least. Seems we’re all on the same floor, so if anything happens between the night time hours, it would be easy to gather everyone I suppose.  
  
I grasp the door handle to my room and turn to look at Masae, who’s doing the same across from me.  
  
“Hey.”  
  
She turns to me quietly.  
  
“Stay safe for me.”  
  
A small smile creeps onto her lips. “I’ll do my best. You too, ok?”  
  
I can’t help but chuckle a little. “No promises.”  
  
She turns away from me and goes into her room. I wait to hear the door securely click behind me before going inside myself. I glance around the room to take a moment and get used to it. All the rooms are probably set up the same. One bed, a couch, table and chairs, blocked off window, and an entrance to a bathroom next to the doorway. Taking a mental note I notice a security camera and monitor set up on the far side of the room. The monitor itself is right in front of the bed, on the wall. Can’t miss whatever shows up on that if you’re laying in bed. Aside from that is… huh, there’s a small handbag here. Must be Masae’s, I sorta recognize it. She probably left it here when she came to wake me up, and just forgot to grab it. She’ll get it tomorrow when she remembers she left something important in there and can’t find it.  
  
Regardless of that I decide that it’s best to just collapse into bed. I don’t have any games to play, and there’s no TV in here to watch, even if I did care about it. Now that the idea of sleep has entered my mind, I can feel that familiar feeling of a heavy tiredness wash over me. I don’t even bother to take off my shoes or change my clothes and just let myself fall onto the bed.

* * *

  
A curtain draws, MonoBagel is sitting alone on a stage.  
  
  
_“You know, most people assume in stories that the hero and protagonist are the same person. But is that always the case? Think about it, you could have a story that shows the perspective of the villain, so does that make them a hero? I mean, what if your story revolved around a pretty girl but the true hero was her weird magic cat sidekick! Man, wouldn’t that be a twist?”_  
  


The curtain closes, and the MonoBagel Theater finds itself ending without another word.

* * *

  
**Ding dong, dong ding**  
  
I slowly awaken to the sound of a clock chime. Morning already? I must have fallen asleep pretty quickly if I didn’t even realize I slept at all. Slowly I sit up on the bed, the sheets shifting around me as the monitor on the wall comes to life.  
  
MonoBagel is slouched in an office chair, a glass of what I assume to be soda resting in his paw. I guess this is his version of an alarm. Groggily I attempt to focus on the screen in front of me.  
  
_“A body has been discovered!”_  
  
If I wasn’t awake before. I was now.


	2. Chapter 1: A Warm Welcome of Despair - Deadly Life

My breath hitched hearing the announcement. A… A body? Now? We haven’t even been here a day! How in the world is someone already dead?! Maybe that’s just the morning alarm to scare us? Yeah… that makes sense…  
  
The MonoBagel on the screen continues to talk, despite my hope he’s lying.  
  
_“Now then, after a certain amount of time, the Con Trial will begin!”_  
  
I swear I still haven’t figured out to breathe again as the screen turns off. I throw the covers off myself and scramble to the floor, ready to sprint of out this room and figure out what the hell is going on. I quickly pull on my shoes as I hear another chime. Oh no…  
  
**Ding dong, bing bong.**  
  
_“This is a Convention Announcement. Gooooood morning, everyone! It is now 8 a.m. and the night time hours are officially over! It’s another beautiful day, so let’s enjoy it with all our might!”_  
  
That just confirms my fears. Someone is actually dead. I finish pulling on my shoe and jerk open my door. I’m ready to rush down the hallway, or down the stairs, just to see who died. I don’t have to run too far though as I see Jake standing at my door, looking as if though he was going to knock. He doesn’t say anything and turns so I can see what’s behind him, and I’m confronted by everyone else standing around the door across from me. Oh no. No no no no no no no!  
  
My legs take off on their own and I shove my way past Stephen and Jon. I don’t get too far into the doorway before I feel one of them pull on my collar. I struggle out of his grip. Jon was barely holding on to start with. Turning to glare into his eyes, I feel all my anger fizzle away. He’s pale, like he’s about to collapse, and his face is stained with tears. Right, this would hurt him as much as it hurts me.  
  
“Masae…” His voice is so quiet my name barely escapes his lips. “Are you… are you _sure_ you want to see him?”  
  
I look down at the floor for a moment before turning and going into the doorway. My entire body is shaking in fear. He can’t be dead. He can’t! I feel my face and heart drop as I look up at Emile’s body. Ari’s kneeling down in front of him, examining what she can visually.  
  
The sight was particularly gruesome to look at. He was slumped against the wall closest to the bed. Blood was splattered behind him and streaked down towards the floor where it barely disappeared behind him. A knife was lodged in his stomach, the handle the only thing protruding out. I couldn’t really see his face, but there was a pretty evident bruise on his cheek.  
  
Ari sighs, as she pressed her hands onto her knees and stands up. She looks over at me with a questioning look on her face. I realize at that moment that everyone was kind of staring awkwardly at me. What did I do? I just got here. At the moment I felt all my sorrow wash away as I take another look at Emile’s lifeless corpse. Oh no. I recognize that handle. Suddenly I remember, I left my bag here. That’s _my_ knife.  
  
“I didn’t do it!” I shout suddenly. “I promise it wasn’t me!”  
  
Ari looks at me, takes in a breath, and sighs. “I’m not going to draw any conclusions just yet. Not until I know the full story.”  
  
I shakily nod my head at her. Before I could say anything else and ask what Ari’s found out, the nearby monitor turns on again.  
  
_“Testing, testing! This is a Con Announcement. Everyone, please meet in the lobby, I have a very special present for you all!”_  
  
I fear for what MonoBagel has in store for us. I hear the others outside the door start shifting, probably to make their way downstairs. Part of me doesn’t want to just leave Emile there. It’s just… too sad. There’s also the possibility of someone sneaking up here and tampering with the crime scene.  
  
“Is someone going to stay behind and watch the room?” I ask Ari as she brushes past me.  
  
She stops for a second before pulling off her headphones. Turning around, she stares blankly at me for a moment. Her hands motion a couple times, like she’s trying to say something but just can’t form the words. She gives up after a half of minute of awkward gesturing.  
  
“I think we’ll be ok.” Ari finally mutters out.  
  
Trusting in her own hope of no one disturbing this area, I follow her out of the room. Tears are prickling at the sides of my eyes as the weight of the reality of Emile being dead sets in. My footsteps slow as I continue to follow everyone down towards the lobby, where all of this began. A day. It’s only been a day! How. No, not how. _WHY_ would anyone kill Emile!?  
  
I’m so lost in my thoughts that I ended up bumping into Lucah, literally. She turns to look at me, tears streaking down her face as well, smearing her make-up. Wordlessly, we pull each other into a hug, holding on tight, wishing we could never let go, lest one of us would die as well. Everyone’s taking this so hard, why did it have to be Emile? It’s terrible anyone died at all, but why _him_ . He was so happy, and if anything he would be the one to be able to keep us all together.  
  
“Alright, alright, cut the waterworks you _saurey_ kick toys!” MonoBagel suddenly shouts as he hops up onto the receptionist’s counter.  
  
Everyone looks at the cat as he brandishes the Con Passes in his paw again and starts tossing them at us one at a time. I didn’t realize until this moment that these things are barely the size of a smartphone, but flat as a usual con pass. I turn it on and see my name appear on the screen. On it is a list of rules for the convention, a map, and profiles for the six-... fifteen of us. Emile’s is still on there, but his picture was already greyed out. A grim reminder that he’s no longer with us.  
  
“Alright fuzzball.” Sage cuts in, pointing her Pass at MonoBagel. “Did you call us down here just to hand us these things?! We’ve got more important things to worry about.”  
  
MonoBagel snickers into his paw momentarily. “Take a load off, sugartits. I’ve got one more present for you all! I figured it was best to gather everyone at once than hunt you all down and hand you these things.” I see him pull up a small device up, no bigger than a small tablet. “Presenting… The MonoBagel file! This little sucker will have all the information you need to know about who got themselves murdered! Ahahahaha! I wasn’t expecting to have to pull these out so quickly, but oh well!”  
  
Everyone was handed one of these little devices quickly. MonoBagel is particularly excited about Emile’s murder. If I can be so bold, he seems a lot more active today than was yesterday. I go to turn on the file and get caught up on what’s going on, but I didn’t have a chance as I hear something slam into the floor. My attention goes to where the receptionist’s desk is and see Sage with one of her hands pinning MonoBagel to the floor by his apparent neck. I can hear everyone else gasping in surprise and fear at this sight. She’s ranting to the cat about how we weren’t even give ten minutes to process that someone is dead. That someone was _murdered_ . By one of us.  
  
MonoBagel sounds he’s unconcerned by the lashing out. Instead he simply shrugs it off and offers to let everyone some time to mourn if she lets him go that instant. I see Sage’s eyes narrow behind her glasses as she removes her hand from the cat and stand up. MonoBagel dusts himself off before doing a frankly impressive backflip onto the counter once more. As if nothing happened just then, the cat leans forward and holds out a small ball to her. A gumball? Looks the right color and size to be one.  
  
“Take a load off! Here’s my apology for causing such a fuss and wasting your time!” MonoBagel purrs as Sage takes the gumball.  
  
Sage’s lip puffs out slightly before she pops it in her mouth. Everything seemed like it was going to back to normal, until Sage’s teeth made an audible click as she bit down on her sugary gift. Suddenly everything went white and my ears were ringing loudly. What the hell just happened?! My consciousness comes back and I find myself pulling my body up from the floor. There’s so much ringing in my ears I wouldn’t be surprised if they will never stop now. My knees felt like there were going to give out on me as I returned to my feet. I dreaded turning around and seeing what just happened.  
  
I swallowed my fear and forced my body to look back at the receptionist’s desk. There’s dark soot everywhere around it and everyone is picking themselves up from the floor. All, except one. My eyes trail down, slowly, oh so slowly, before they rest on Sage, on the floor. The top half of her is scorched, totally unrecognizable, and… Oh… oh god… her head’s gone.  
  
“WHAT THE HELL!?”  
  
It took me a moment to realize that I was the one that had screamed out. Everyone else was just now learning the horrible truth that the gum MonoBagel had offered to Sage was actually a bomb. He himself was still standing on the counter, laughing loudly as everyone else proceeded to yell and scream at the horrid sight of Sage lying on the floor, dead as a doornail. Without preamble MonoBagel hopped onto the floor and picked up her Con Pass and MonoBagel file, probably to dispose of them now, with their owner no longer being able to use them.  
  
“Let this be a lesson to you! Unless you want to end up cooked salmon, don’t threaten me! I’m adding this into the rules now. No direct violence against the Producer! You got it? Try anything fishy and _you’ll_ be the sashimi!”  
  
No one dared to say a word. The room around us was so quiet we could hear a pin drop. MonoBagel scanned around the room for a moment before laughing loudly again. This cat… he’s so cruel. First he corrals us into this nightmare sham of a Con, then somehow convinces one of us to murder someone else, and then _kills_ someone else in front of us for the sake of an example. My hands are shaking as I try to calm down. I just watched someone get killed, and found Emile dead this morning. Today has just gone from bad to worse and I feel like nothing is going to improve!  
  
I have no idea how long I was standing there, just trying to collect myself. Sometime in the meanwhile, I had collapsed to my knees, the MonoBagel file clenched tightly in my hands. Adri is sitting next to me, rubbing circles into my shoulder as I come back to reality. Everyone else seems to have left by now, possibly to get back to investigating Emile’s murder. The only ones left in the lobby is myself, Adri, and the remainder of Sage’s body.  
  
“You going to be ok?” Adri asks me, tenderly.  
  
I purse my lips together as I power the MonoBagel file on to finally take a look at what happened. I can’t answer that question. Maybe later. But right now I have to focus on what happened. A profile picture of Emile appears on the second page along with miscellaneous information like his height, weight, and blood type. Next was a picture of the crime scene, just as I had seen it before. Underneath it is a diagram of Emile, his wounds highlighted in a soft purplish-pink color. It’s not quite magenta, but it’s pretty close, just not quite there. Next to the diagram is a paragraph about his cause of death.

 

 

> _The victim is Emile Rosales, better known as Chuggaaconroy, he was found dead in his hotel room just before the morning announcement._  
>    
>  _The victim suffered a single stab wound to the abdomen. It is assumed this is the cause of death, as there was no traces of poison in his system, and no other major injuries. His face has a single large bruise to the left cheek, and there is glass embedded in the knuckles of his left hand._ _  
> _ _  
> Based on injuries, the victim struggled against his assailant, before being stabbed._

  
I close the file and make a note of the information in my Con Pass, after I notice there’s a section in it dedicated to evidence. I thank Adri for being with me and start to stand up. She follows my lead and rests a hand on my shoulder for a moment before closing in for a hug. I hug her back briefly before pulling away so I can get back to Emile’s room.  
  
“Oh.” I stop and turn back to Adri. “Do you know anything about what might have happened?”  
  
She shakes her head quietly. Her apology is just as quiet as she mentions that she has no knowledge of what happened due to being amongst the last people to find Emile’s body. I watch as she pulls her hair around her shoulder to play with it a little bit. She mentions that Ari would be one of the few that would know the most, as she had been doing her own observations before the file was even given to us. Other than that she recommends that I talk to Jon, and Ari’s friend Roxie. I nod to her and thank her for the advice and comfort.  
  
With a sudden newfound determination I march myself upstairs to get a good look at the crime scene. Most everyone is hanging around outside the room, sitting on the floor. Except for who I assume is Roxie. She’s staring on ahead, right at my room. I assume she’s standing guard to make sure nothing is tampered with inside. I walk past everyone, feeling the tension in the air, until I reach Roxie herself.  
  
She turns her head towards me without a word. “You need something?” Despite the intense aura she gives off, she’s quite friendly.  
  
“Adri told me I could ask you about what happened. You have anything?”  
  
I watch as she glances around the hallway briefly before she escorts me into the room. I catch a glimpse of Ari kneeling in front of Emile’s body, doing some things, before I bring my attention back to her friend.  
  
“I was the first one to discover the body.” She starts, talking in a harsh whisper. “I got up early because I promised I’d make breakfast for Ari this morning. She, Meg, and Brandon were still asleep when I got up, and I walked out of the room to go downstairs. I had noticed then that Emile’s door was cracked open a little bit. Last night Ari let us know that the doors to this hotel don’t close unless you actually push or pull them close.”  
  
Now that she mentions it, I remember seeing Emile pull the door closed yesterday. Did he already know about that feature? How interesting, I don’t think I had really latched my door either because I hadn’t paid much attention to that little detail. Oh god, that means any of us with our door unlatched could have gotten killed. But… if Emile know about the door, how did the murderer get in? I’ll take note of Roxie’s account that the doors have to be pulled closed in order for them to latch. In addition to that, I take a quick look at the door itself.  
  
I glance around the lock, nob, frame, and hinge carefully. I couldn’t find any scratches or marks that would indicate someone tried to force their way into his room. If that’s the case, Emile opened the door willingly for his murderer. After properly inspecting the door I turn back towards the interior of the room. Roxie marches past me to continue her role as the guard outside the room. Ari herself is still messing with Emile’s corpse, a notebook lying next to her on the floor. For the moment I leave her to her work, as I assume she’s working on her own version of an autopsy.  
  
I check my handbag that’s left sitting on the chair I set it on yesterday. My unfortunate suspicions are confirmed when I find that my knife is not sitting in it. That certainly paints a terrible picture for this trial. Me, rooming right across the hall from Emile, having spent the day with him yesterday, and my fricking knife stuck in his stomach. How am I going to convince anyone that it wasn’t me at all? Taking note of my handbag, I turn back to see Ari standing up and removing gloves from her hands. When did she get those? Where did she get those? It doesn’t matter, I need answers for the mystery, not how she has latex gloves.  
  
“Did you find anything?” I ask her, watching as she closes her notebook carefully and pulls her headphones down again.  
  
Her lips twist somewhere between a pout and a shape of uncertainty. “I’m not exactly skilled in this line of work, but I know a couple things. Can’t say for sure, but he was probably killed around midnight.”  
  
Midnight huh? I take a glance at my Con Pass and pull up the rules. I hadn’t read them too thoroughly, given the situation. Now might be a good time to familiarize myself with them.

 

 

> **_Rule #1:_ ** _Guests may reside only within the hotel and Kiibocon grounds. Leaving the vicinity is an unacceptable use of time._
> 
> **_Rule #2:_ ** _"Night time" is from 12 am to 8 am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution._
> 
> **_Rule #3:_ ** _With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Kiibocon and Zetsubo Hotel at your discretion._
> 
> **_Rule #4:_ ** _Anyone who kills a fellow Guest and becomes "blackened" will be able to leave the Con, unless they are discovered._
> 
> **_Rule #5:_ ** _Once a murder takes place, a Con Trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for all surviving Guests._
> 
> **_Rule #6:_ ** _If the guilty party is exposed during the Con Trial, they alone will be executed._
> 
> **_Rule #7:_ ** _If the guilty party is not exposed, they alone will be able to leave the Con, and all remaining Guests will be executed._
> 
> **_Rule #8:_ ** _The guilty party may only kill a maximum of two people during any single "Killing Game."_
> 
> **_Rule #9:_ ** _Violence against Producer MonoBagel is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras._
> 
> **_Rule #10:_ ** _Additional Con regulations may be added if necessary.  
>    
>  _

So midnight was when the doors should have locked. MonoBagel said he would lock them after his announcement. I stayed up a little later after everyone split off, so I heard the announcement MonoBagel gave. I went to bed soon afterwards, but that doesn’t mean much in terms of alibi. Most everyone else was paired off, or in Ari’s case she has three other people to account for her. The only other people not with someone was Sage, who’s very much dead now, Tim, Jake, and Tom. I turn back to Ari for a moment after musing a little.  
  
“Anything else of note?” I ask.  
  
She gestures slightly to the floor, there’s a broken pair of glasses resting by my feet. I almost stepped on them apparently. I lean down to get a good look and note that the glass is completely broken and most of it has fallen out. Was this how Emile got glass stuck in his knuckles? Must be, only logical explanation. I jot down quickly that the glasses on the floor has a slightly tint to the lenses, but the colour was hard to perceive against the dark floor, and the faint bloodstains splattered on the shards.  
  
Ari folds her arms and thumps her foot a couple times on the floor. “The glass in Emile’s hand is pretty deeply embedded. I had to use tweezers to dislodge a couple fragments. It’s hard to tell if the lenses are supposed to be clear, or a vaguely red color given the blood. Though, I’m guessing originally the glass was magenta.”  
  
Magenta huh? Well, that’s interesting. I note that down as an update for the notes I made on the glass stuck in his hand. That should very much cover what can be found in his room. Seeing his lifeless body like that still just seems so wrong. Whoever did this will _pay_ . Now’s not the time to think about it though, I still need to talk to Jon.  
  
I go outside Emile’s room and see that others have left for now. Probably to go eat, or something. I can’t worry about that right now. Turning towards the stairs I make my way to Jon’s room. I notice that his door is still creaked open a little bit. Wow, this door thing is apparently the second biggest mystery around here. Taking in a deep breath I raise my hand and knock on the door. It only takes a few moments for Jon to come up to the door. He looks truly horrible right now. Can’t blame him though, he considered Emile something akin to a brother.  
  
“Can I ask you a couple questions?” I question, hesitantly.  
  
Jon wipes his cheek a little with the back of his hand, disturbing the placement of his glasses. Those look to be ok as well, thinking about it. Probably safe to mark him as innocent, especially if Lucah helps with his alibi. He backs up into his room a little to invite me in. Lucah is sitting on the bed, tissues scrunched up in her hands, and still crying.  
  
“What did you need to ask?” Jon starts, his voice breaking, like he can’t form words right now.  
  
“Adri said I should talk to you, so I wanted to know if you know anything about what happened.”  
  
I watched as Jon removed his glasses to press his palm against his eyes to clear the tears again. He looks away from me when he mentions he had stayed up until just before the night time announcement. While Emile had been out yesterday some people explored around the hotel grounds, and apparently Jon had found a vending machine area on the far side of the hallway we’re on. He had gone out to grab himself some water and ended up passing Tom on his way there. According to him, he didn’t think much of the encounter since Tom looked like he was coming back from the vending machine himself. Jon didn’t know where his room was at that time, but only found out this morning it’s right next to Emile’s.  
  
Aside from the random encounter last night, Jon was one of the early few to find Emile apparently. Which explains why he was so shook up in particular. He didn’t even know someone had died, only to hear someone bang on his door and get his attention. He had crawled out of bed and saw Roxie frantically beating on Ari’s door before moving down the hall. Jon apparently went to follow her before he noticed Emile’s door was wide open and peered inside.  
  
Jon was holding onto his shoulders tightly, trying in vain to keep himself together. “I’m sorry I’m not of much more help. I stayed there until Roxie returned and Jake went to get you, since you didn’t answer your door when she passed by it. You know the rest from there.”  
  
My head drops to look at the floor. Oh, do I know what happened after everyone found his body.  
  
Before we could discuss anything else, a chime resounded in the room.  
  
**Ding dong, bing bong.**  
  
_“Ok guys, I’m actually quite the impatient type, so let’s get a move on shall we? It’s time for the Con Trial to begin! Please gather at the Conference Room doors located on the first floor next to the main elevator!”_  
  
That smug cat really does have all the control around here. It doesn’t matter much now though. Hopefully the trial will clear up all the questions I have, because it sure doesn’t feel like enough evidence is here to solve the mystery alone. Bracing myself for what’s to come, I bring myself out of Jon’s room and head towards the meeting place. Don’t worry Emile, I’ll figure out your killer and bring them to justice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bamboozled you all


	3. Chapter 1: A Warm Welcome of Despair - Con Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first trial of RunawayRonpa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important information: This chapter is written in a manner to attempt and simulate an actual DR trial, during certain parts of the dialogue a small phrase will be italicized, this means this is an Argue Spot, so information that may or may not contradict with evidence in Masae's possession. Do be aware of this information.

_  
_ Despite moving as fast as I could downstairs, it felt like I was the last to arrive at the doors to the Conference Room. Most of the time, rooms like these are saved for Panels at conventions, but it seems that this particular room has been repurposed for something else. I brace myself as I push the button to open the doors, and see everyone gathered around in what looks to be some sort of freight elevator. It’s particularly spacious in here. Regardless of how I feel about the elevator, I step inside and turn around, waiting for the doors to close.   
  
With a loud, mechanical roar the elevator hums to life and starts its journey. I assume we’re going underground somewhere, but it’s impossible to tell. The air around us is still, possibly because we still haven’t fully grasped our situations yet. At least, I know I haven’t. I can feel myself swaying on my feet. My breath had hitched at some point when we entered the elevator, and it was starting to get to me.   
  
In. Out. Remember to breathe. In. Out.   
  
It’s not much to calm my nerves, but breathing will at least help somehow. Even if it’s just me staying conscious. The elevator’s movements slow around us, and soon, it stops. Metal screeches as the doors open and we all step out into a large chamber.   
  
Surrounding us on all sides are walls, decorated in such a way that reminded me of a courtroom. In the very center is a circle of podiums. Behind one of them is MonoBagel, perched upon a tall, golden throne. Usarotta is next to the throne, trapped inside a small cage just barely big enough to contain her. Her entire look seemed different as well, instead of mostly white with patches of grey, she was now almost totally white, with the left side of her body that light grey, and a small crown encircling her left ear. She is quietly sobbing to herself as well.   
  
“About time you stopped pussyfooting around and got down here! I’ve been so bored just waiting!”   
  
I could only find myself glaring at the cat in response.   
  
MonoBagel leans his head on one paw as he gestures to the podiums. “Now then, with everyone here we can get this party rollin’! Everyone, please direct yourselves to your assigned seat, and then we can begin!”   
  
Without a word everyone walks towards the podiums. The area is so eerily still and quiet, like an abandoned warehouse. I push the thought away as I settle at my podium. The arrangement made it so everyone can see each other all at once, making it difficult to hide from the scrutinizing stares of your fellow guests. Ari is to my left, and Lucah to my right. Right across from me… is a black and white portrait of Emile. A giant X covering his smiling face. How… insulting. Behind his portrait, I have the perfect view of MonoBagel and his demented grin.   
  
“Now then,” MonoBagel starts once everyone settles. “Let’s begin with a simple explanation of the Con Trial! Here you will present your arguments and discussions about “Whodunnit”! If you all vote for the correct person, then only the Blackened will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one~, then I’ll punish everyone BESIDES the Blackened! Then that guest will have the privilege to leave this Con! Oohoohoohoohoo!”   
  
I could see Usarotta’s ears angrily twitch as she tries to jump in her cage. “T-that’s too cruel of a rule! You can’t just punish everyone for not finding a… a… I can’t even say that word! It’s too mean to acknowledge!”   
  
“Oh, poor, sweet, innocent MonoPippy.” MonoBagel snickers into his paws, addressing the bunny by a different name than we once knew. “Just because you don’t want to acknowledge a killer exists, doesn’t mean it doesn’t!”   
  
Jake gently presses a finger to the side of his glasses. “Speaking of that, may I ask a question? This seems like it’s important to know.” He pauses as everyone waits with bated breath. “The killer is, truly, someone standing in this room. Correct?”   
  
MonoBagel only starts laughing once again. “You got it! They don’t call you Jeenius for nothing! Even if you can’t spell it right! It’s true though, one of you crazy cats sharpened your claws and pounced!” He paused briefly to calm down before speaking again. “Just so you know, this trial will be conducted 100% fairly! So, now with the introductions and questions out of the way, let’s get this party started!”   
  
Before anyone could begin, I watched as Mallory extended a hand out. “Just a moment. I need to know, what’s with the portraits?”   
  
Wait, portraits? More than one? I glanced around the room again before my eyes settled on another portrait stand three spaces from me, just on the other side of Brandon. It was a picture of Sage, also in black and white with giant letters covering her face spelling ‘DNF’. I just now realized that Emile’s looks very stylized, like the logo from Xenoblade X or something, and Sage’s looks like it was taken from a digital clock display.   
  
“Oh, that? Well, wouldn’t it just be sad if those two had to miss the trial just because they died? So I set these up so they could participate all the same! Aren’t I just the nicest cat you’ve ever met?”   
  
I’m not sure what’s worse. The point that MonoBagel put up those sad portraits, or that he painted giant letters over their faces. We’ve already established that one of _us_ killed Emile, so that really didn’t help matters at all. I still firmly believe that it should be him standing amongst us, even if it would have to be in place of myself. Even then, I have no choice but to see this portrait, as it’s right in front of me. Oh, I hate this!   
  
“If you don’t have any more questions, why don’t we finally get started?”   
  
Ok, I suppose we have no choice anymore. It’s do or die time! Unfortunately, literally! Roxie laces her fingers together and gently leans her chin on them before she speaks.   
  
“I feel we should establish everyone’s alibis. It’ll be much easier if we can narrow down the amount of people actually capable of killing Emile.”   
  
Stephen fiddles lightly at his collar before speaking. “Are you saying anyone without an alibi is a suspect?”   
  
If anyone without an alibi is the prime suspect, I may be doomed. As it was I hung around Emile much of yesterday after he woke up. Taking that into account, as well as my stuff being in his room will certainly place blame automatically on me. I know I didn’t kill him though, I’ll just have to prove it. Listening for contradictions or things I can agree with may be my only chance to settle this.   
  
“Well, I shouldn’t have to say this, but I was with Roxie, Brandon, and Meg all of yesterday.” Ari states as she adjusts her headphones. “We slept in the same room together, and _no one left_ until we learned Emile was already dead.”   
  
Next was Stephen. “Mal and I stayed together as well. We slept in shifts just in case something happened. Not that it helped apparently, the rooms seem to be soundproof.”   
  
Jules nods his head. “Yep, rooms are soundproofed to hell and back. I could be playing my guitar on full blast and no one would hear anything. Adri even said she didn’t hear a thing!”   
  
“Getting back on track.” Jake muses. “I went straight to my room, like everyone else, and waited the night out. I was much further down the hall compared to everyone, so even if the rooms had thinner walls, I doubt I would have heard anything. Though, I can’t have anyone confirm I was there all night.”   
  
Tom stretches his arms behind his head and stares at the ceiling. “I’m sure I would have heard something if they weren’t, _I was in my room all night._ ”   
  
Wait. What Tom said just now. That’s pretty suspicious if I had to think about it. I muse over the evidence I had gotten during my brief investigation to figure out why that sounded so off to me.   
  
“No, that’s wrong!!” I shout, as if shooting the truth right into Tom. “You weren’t in your room all night. Isn’t that right, Jon?”   
  
Jon presses a finger to his glasses. “Of course. I had walked right by you last night on my way to the vending machines.”   
  
“Oh yeah. I guess I forgot about that during this whole ordeal.” Tom apologized. “So much crazy shit’s gone down that something was bound to slip my mind.”   
  
“When would you say you were outside your room, Jon?” Ari asks, her finger pressed lightly under her lip.   
  
“Hmm, it was pretty close to midnight, I’d say. Actually, I got back just after the night time announcement occured, since Reese had to let me into my room.”   
  
At this point, it seems the topic of alibi is getting dropped for a little bit. At least no one is actively accusing me, just because I was with Emile yesterday, though I can’t rest just yet. We’ve only just began this charade.   
  
“Speaking of time, just exactly when did Emile get killed anyway?” Tim asks quietly. “The MonoBagel file didn’t mention anything about it.”

Tim brings up a good point. That file was pretty unhelpful all things considered. It listed how he died, but aside from that there wasn't anything of interest to it that would help. Guess we'll have to confirm when he was killed then.   
  
“It could have been at any time before the announcement, right?” Adri asks. “According to the rules, ‘ _night time is from midnight to eight a.m.’_ , and MonoBagel locked the doors at midnight.”

Stephen raked his fingers through his hair. “That's really broad though isn't it? We had at least an hour between the Opening Ceremony and the night time announcement.”

“Indeed,” Jake adds, “that's quite the time gap. It's such an empty space that it would make it impossible to tell for sure if he was killed immediately once he entered his room.”  
  
Ari set a hand to her hip. “I tried my best with an autopsy, he should have died _around midnight_. Basically, the night time announcement announced his death. As morbid as it sounds.” She punctuated that last statement with a light chuckle.  
  
“Does the time really matter?” Brandon asks, his face tucked into his scarf as he looks towards Ari. “The fiend who killed Emile could have just _busted the door open_. Could they not? Even I would not require my extra-human strength to do so.”  
  
Without any hesitation I slam my hands on my podium and refute Brandon’s statement. I know that one isn’t quite right, I checked myself!  
  
“The killer didn’t bust anything open.” I say. “Having checked the hinges and the latch, I can say without a doubt, the door was opened normally.”  
  
Jake presses his glasses up using his thumb and index finger. “That makes sense, the door would have been a clear indicator of if the killer bust in or was invited. Something may have gotten slightly dislodged if they forced the door open.”  
  
“Not only that,” Mal interjects, “but the door itself would have probably been hanging loosely if one of the hinges broke. Even the lock would have probably sitting on the floor if the killer had to force the door open.  
  
Meg stiffened. “So you’re saying the killer just opened the first door they came across, and killed someone!?”  
  
“No, it’s too early to really say if it was Emile, or the killer. It’s just safe to say the door was either still unlocked, or was opened from the inside.” I respond, wondering which of those options is the right one.  
  
“It wasn’t just those two options either.” Ari adds, fiddling with her headphone cord. “There’s one other way the killer could have gotten into the room.”  
  
One other way? Oh! That’s right!  
  
“You’re talking about how the doors don’t automatically latch, right Ari?”  
  
Jon looked over at me like he suddenly saw a ghost. “What did you say?”  
  
Roxie folds her arms and turns to the side. “Ari let me, Brandon, and Meg know that we have to pull the doors closed in order to make sure they stay closed.”  
  
“I noticed this as well,” Jake adds. “The doors will not stay propped open unless held open far enough, to which the hinge will then catch and hold itself. But they also do not close completely without a good push or pull; the latches have quite a bit of resistance to them.”  
  
“Meaning, Emile’s killer could have very well just pushed the door open, killed him, and left, even after midnight?” Mal asks with a tilt of her head.  
  
“Except, that’s not quite right.” I interject. “Just before we came down for the Opening Ceremony, I had gone to wake up Emile. When we left his room, I remember he pulled his door all the way closed. There’s no way he didn’t know about the latch issue.”  
  
Lucah presses her hands close to her heart. “So that probably still puts the initial time at before midnight, doesn’t it? Whoever killed Emile would have figured their door would have been locked if they took too long. I had to let Jon in because he thought the door was locked.”  
  
“Not necessarily.” Tim says, quite boldly as well. “The killer could have known about the door problem and left their door creaked open, just in case they were gone until after the announcement. That way, they could have gotten back into their room, and no one would have known. The odds of that are low, but not impossible.”  
  
Jon looks forward at all of us before speaking again. “But whoever it was probably only had a few minutes to get in and out without me seeing them. Especially afterwards, bloodstains sure wouldn’t have slipped by me.”  
  
“But,” Roxie interjects, “that’s assuming the killer was going for a quick kill and managed to do so.”  
  
“A quick kill, a quick escape,” Ari adds on. “The perfect scenario. A skilled killer would be able to pull that off. Someone like our amatuer murderer here wouldn’t have that kind of foresight. Leaving such incriminating evidence behind, hell, getting into a fight with the person he was trying to kill sure proves it if you ask me. All the evidence is already there that, whatever plan they originally concocted, might have gone awry.”  
  
Roxie slams a hand into her fist. “They also aimed for the stomach when they stabbed Emile. Sure, that would definitely kill after a while, but most people know you aim for the chest if you’re going to be efficient.”  
  
“So you’re trying to convince us you’re not the killer, is what you’re saying.” Jules questions. “Just makes you sound more suspicious if you ask me.”  
  
“Oh, please. If I was going to kill someone I’d make it look like an accident.”   
  
Ari presses the back of her hand to her face to try and hide her laughter. “Or make such a mess that you wouldn’t be able to tell if it was an accident or slaughter.”  
  
Jon narrows his eyes behind his glasses before speaking up. “If we’ve settled that whoever came in to Emile’s room was at minimum a welcome visitor, can we please start figuring out who the fuck it was? With very few exceptions, Emile would let anyone in if they just wanted a chat.”  
  
That’s a very good point Jon brings up. Except for Meg, Roxie, and the recently deceased Sage, Emile knows everyone here and would let any of us in should we knock on his door. That doesn’t narrow down the list of particular suspects all that much, but at least it also gives a good starting point of who would be most likely to randomly knock upon Emile’s door at that time of night. Though, we’d be right back at the point of confirming alibis. I ended up derailing that topic when Tom clearly lied about his whereabouts last night.  
  
“Before we return to that.” Adri interjects, “Did we ever confirm the murder weapon? Perhaps we could narrow down our list of suspects by confirming who would have used such a weapon.”  
  
Oh no, the moment I’ve been dreading. Personally, I know that Emile was killed with _my_ knife. Everyone else is probably in the dark about that, except Ari, since she inspected the body. I fear the point being brought up at all. Unfortunately, this may be a necessary evil to solving this case. I’m confident of my own innocence, so convincing the others probably wouldn’t be too difficult of a task should they suspect me.  
  
Adri is the first to speak up, having brought up the topic, tapping a finger to her lips and glancing at the ceiling. “If I remember correctly, the MonoBagel file stated that… _Emile was stabbed_.”  
  
Mallory folds her arms and glances towards the ground. “That isn’t a particularly helpful hint. The stab could have been anything, we are in a hotel after all. Even Roxie has already mentioned he was stabbed in the stomach…”  
  
Jules raises a finger dramatically, “Then the obvious answer is some sort of knife! Those things are probably scattered all over the kitchen!”  
  
“Well, that answers the question of the weapon right?” Stephen asks, “he was killed with a _kitchen knife_.”  
  
I hate to do this now, but I have no choice. I shout out to Stephen stating that he’s wrong, and everyone stares at me, as if judging my sudden outburst.  
  
“No. Emile wasn’t killed with just any regular knife.” My voice was wavering, I’m not ready to tell everyone this. “He was killed with a knife I usually carry.”  
  
Brandon folded his arms and smiles slightly. “So you too are a master of dark arts? Do you use your tool to create minions as well?”  
  
My face must have been contorted in confusion, much like everyone else’s around me.  
  
“He’s asking if it’s a whittling knife. Since you work on a more physical medium of art.” Ari adds, noting the uncomfortable silence.  
  
Stephen presses a hand to his forehead in confusion, “You carry a freaking Bowie knife don’t you?”  
  
“That I do. It’s a self-defence tool, but I’ve used it to open packages before. Nothing violent.”  
  
Meg rakes her hands into her hair. “Still, such a big knife? And you carry it so casually?”  
  
This part seems to be getting nowhere. At least so I think before Ari speaks up again, adjusting her headphones.  
  
“Would you say anyone here really knows about that knife of yours?”  
  
That’s… a good question, but what is she getting at?  
  
“I’d say this isn’t something I commonly talk about. Stephen and Mal knew about it, but…” I trail off, realizing something, there is one other person that knew about my knife. “So did Emile.”  
  
I think I understand Ari’s question now. Maybe our killer wasn’t the one who originally had the knife in their possession. She may be asking so we spin this case in a different light. I didn't even consider this a possibility, I was so caught up in Emile being killed.  
  
Tim seems to have caught onto this as well. “You’re suggesting that, instead of entering with bad intentions, the killer was simply a guest.”  
  
“And this killing may have been self-defense.” Jake finishes.  
  
Is what those two are suggesing plausible? Do we have any sort of proof that Emile’s death may have been an accident caused by self-defense? I have to stop and think about this for a second. Should this be a true revelation, what does that change about what we know already? We had come to a not-quite conclusion that Emile’s door was opened willingly, perhaps by Emile himself to invite our killer in. He was also one of about four people, aside from myself, that knew of the existence of my knife. That does confirm that Emile knew it was left there before the murder took place. What does that leave in terms of evidence to prove our new theory? I ponder the question in my head for a little bit while reminding myself of my evidence.  
  
“The broken glasses, the missing link!” I declare to everyone.  
  
I see some people tense up from my sudden declaration, whether it’s from the revelation itself or my sudden shout, I’m not sure yet. Regardless of that, I see Ari with her hands on her hips and a cocky grin.  
  
“I was waiting to bring that up. As noted in the MonoBagel File, Emile managed to get some sort of glass embedded in his knuckles.”  
  
Roxie adjusts her glasses slightly. “There was also note that he had a bruise on his  face as well, meaning someone probably punched him.”  
  
“That may be from when he attacked with the knife, trying to get him away.” Jake suggests, “it’s hard to say what order which injury came in what order, other than the stab being the final blow. Perhaps Emile struck first, then grabbed the knife.”  
  
“Or,” Brandon adds, “our fiend saw Emile reach for the blade and struck him to prevent him from doing so, and then grabbed it for themselves.”  
  
“No, that last one can’t be it.” Ari adds, suddenly.  
  
Adri suddenly looks shocked at this suggestion. “Why can’t it be? Did you bring up this possibility only to turn it back around on us?”  
  
“No, not because of that. It’s something no one would probably notice right away, especially since most of you never got a detailed look at the crime scene.”  
  
Meg tilts her head in confusion, as if trying to put this together. “What are you talking about? You better be talking about something we can all understand!”  
  
Ari stares straight at me, knowing I was the only other one to really inspect the scene at all. “Think about what you saw in Emile’s room. Did you notice anything strange?”  
  
Strange? What is she talking about? I pull up the photo of Emile’s body in the MonoBagel file so I can get a visual to solve this mystery. My eyes scan over everything in the room, the bed is messed up, but that seems normal. My bag is open, makes sense. The unidentified frames, probably from the killer. The knife… wait. There is something slightly off about that now that I look at it again.  
  
“You’re talking about my knife, right Ari?”  
  
“What’s so special about the knife?” Tom asks, kind of nervous.  
  
Jules suddenly pipes up, “I see it! The grip of the handle is facing the wrong way!”  
  
“That’s what I’m talkin’ ‘bout!” Ari cheers with a peace sign, “if our killer had grabbed the knife for themselves, the handle of the knife would be facing the floor. Except, it’s not.”  
  
“So,” Roxie interjects, “you’re suggesting the knife was still in Emile’s hand when he was stabbed.”  
  
“Exactly. Based on the way the knife is facing, Emile himself was probably holding the knife above him when he was going after the killer.”  
  
Ari does bring up a good point. As a usual rule of thumb, the knife itself is facing downwards, but this time it’s upside down. That could very well mean that his arm was grabbed, and he was forced to stab himself instead. How gruesome, even if he did probably started this himself. Though, what all does this mean? How does this tie in to the fact he fought his killer?  
  
Tim looks off to the side for a moment before speaking, “So, if Emile was the one that _had the knife to begin with_ …”  
  
“Does that mean he was stabbed as the end result of the struggle?” Jon finishes.  
  
Lucah dejectedly looks to the floor, a hand at her heart, “they must have been fighting over who had possession of the knife…”  
  
Roxie adjusts her headband slightly, “their struggle must have ended when Emile got punched.”  
  
Mal is next to add on, “Or when the killer did, it was Emile’s _last chance to_ _leave evidence_.”  
  
Jules sticks out his tongue in disgust, “Not that a broken pair of glasses and some glass shards have given us much help on who did it.”  
  
“Yeah!” Tom adds on, “especially since the blood would make it hard to tell that the _glass is colored!_ ”  
  
I take a moment to think about this argument. We’ve basically confirmed Emile was the one to grab the knife first, given its orientation in his stomach, and we’re trying to figure out if he got the colored glass embedded in his hand before or after he grabbed it… Wait. Wait, wait, wait! Did Tom just say…?  
  
“Hey Tom.”  
  
He looks at me and adjusts his glasses, “Yeah?”  
  
“When did we mention the color of the glass in Emile’s hand?”  
  
The entire room went eerily quiet after I asked my question. Just like myself, everyone is slowly realizing that… the killer may have just accidentally outed himself.  
  
“All I said was that some glass shards weren’t really helpful.” Jules admits, as he sets a hand to his hair and glances at the floor, “Don’t think I mentioned anything about them having a color.”  
  
Jake tilts his head a little, as he holds up a finger. “The MonoBagel File makes no mention of the color of the shards either, just their existence.”  
  
“Not only that,” Ari butts in, “I mentioned that I was unable to determine if the glasses were originally clear or tinted magenta, but _only_ to Masae during her investigation of the scene. Unless Tom’s suddenly learned telepathy, there’s no way he heard me talk about it.”  
  
Jon’s tone was dark as he stood firmly, glaring daggers into Tom, “Unless he was the one there himself.”  
  
“It’s the only thing that makes sense!” Tim adds.  
  
“Y-you got it all wrong!” Tom stammers out, panicking, “I-I wasn’t there! I didn’t see Emile last night!”  
  
It seems we’ve finally hit the final leg of this mad dash of a trial. I can see a sly grin on Ari’s face, though she tries to hide it, while asking MonoBagel if it’s time to vote on who we think is the killer.  
  
“Ya think you’re all ready to vote? Or are you just trying to be _koi_ with me? I’m fine either way!” MonoBagel snickers, god that pun is terrible.  
  
“D-don’t!” Tom yelps. “Y-you don’t have proof it was me! What reason would I even have to visit Emile? Huh?”  
  
He… has a point. That’s the one thing we haven’t quite figured out yet: motive. There’s only one reason I can even _think_ of for why specifically Tom, of all of us, went to see Emile so suddenly. My heart is pounding in my chest, as I feel like the argument against Tom is going to rest solely upon my shoulders. I just have to focus!  
  
It’ll take some time to wear down Tom’s petty arguments about why he wasn’t in Emile’s room last night. He keeps asking for the proof, how we know it was him. That’s the easy part. now that I think about it. No one here really knew about my knife, except for Emile himself, Stephen, Mal, and apparently Ari. So that throws them out as suspects, as none of them have glasses on. Of those that do have glasses, the shapes of the frames didn’t match Jake, Sage, Meg, or Roxie, leaving only Jon and Tom anyway as everyone else doesn’t wear them, or at least regularly. From there, Tom is the only one that even wears colored lenses at all. Even as we stand in this trial, his glasses are tinted yellow, showing just how much of a coward he even is. How ironic.  
  
My arguments seem like they’re starting to get through, but Tom is still having none of it! Just as his argument against me seems to be intensifying, I can feel my heart thump against my chest harder and faster. Now he’s debating about his reasoning for even wanting to go to Emile’s room. That’s the main point I have to drive home with this. Once I understand that, then this case will solve itself, I hope. Because that will leave just the exact why left. Of why… he killed Emile.  
  
“Emile wanted to talk to you that morning!” I shout as I point accusingly at Tom.  
  
Suddenly, like watching a bullet strike through glass, Tom’s argument broke apart. He let out a scream as he grabbed his hair, a deafening sound of defeat. So loud, I could see people covering their ears and getting angry. Now isn’t time to worry over my hearing, however. Now is when I make my argument.  
  
“That morning, when we stepped down into the lobby of Zetsubo Hotel, you were the first to greet us, as if nothing was wrong. Just before the Opening Ceremony began, Emile even told me he wanted to speak to you.” I pause, remembering yesterday morning, “He at least got your attention before MonoPippy popped up. After that, everyone agreed to retire to our rooms, looking for safety in the night, knowing we’d get locked out if we took too long. You were the last one left downstairs, as Emile and I went back, like you were waiting for him to talk to you.”  
  
“I…” Tom begins, “You still have it wrong! I didn’t kill him!”  
  
“Still don’t believe me?” I ask, “Well, maybe if I put together the series of events, everything will come together, and you’ll finally accept what you’ve done!”  
  
Perhaps putting this all in order will clarify to me what happened as well. I stop for a moment and focus my thoughts, trying to let this play out in my own head. That way I can clear up any gaps that we’ve since filled in through evidence and context throughout the trial. I can’t overlook anything, down to the evidence we found, the time it took, and the circumstances that may have lead up to Emile’s murder.  
  
Once my head is cleared and I focus on what we know, I begin my closing argument.  
  
“This is exactly how it went down! Yesterday evening, all of us gathered down in the hotel lobby, hoping to learn of our situation here at Kiibocon. Emile had passed out earlier that day and I had gone to get him when he woke up. Once we returned downstairs, someone greeted him, just before Sage came in to complain about his delayed arrival.  
  
“Then, just before MonoPippy arrived to welcome us to the convention, Emile had planned on talking to someone. About what, only he knew. The Opening Ceremony and MonoBagel’s announcement of the Killing Game distracted him from his original goal. We eventually would all go up to our rooms, to hopefully hide from any would-be killers, as all of our doors would automatically lock once midnight struck. At that point, Emile and I had parted ways, wishing each other the best, not knowing we’d never speak to each other again.  
  
“What little did I know, this was all part of a grander plan. Later into the night, prior to the Night Time Announcement, someone had gone to visit Emile’s room, hoping to have a private chat. This was supposed to be a secret the two of them held. Our killer went just before midnight, hoping to avoid anyone seeing them, since the doors would lock soon, lest they get suspicious of them being out so late. They knew they could take as long as they wanted as well, as there’s a small problem with the doors here. In order to fully secure them, they have to be pulled closed from the outside. Knowing this, the killer left the door creaked open, just so they wouldn’t get locked out. Unfortunately, Jon had just left his room as well, going to grab something to drink before midnight hit. He didn’t think much of seeing someone else out, suspecting they had been at the vending machine themselves, and passed by without a word.  
  
“Knowing Jon wouldn’t take too long just to grab something from the vending machine, the killer rushed over to Emile’s room, and opened the door himself, knowing that it would be open. Given the lack of amenities in our hotel rooms, Emile was probably getting ready to go to bed, just to wait out the night. Hearing the door suddenly opening out of the blue scared him. He possibly thought he was going to get killed, having forgotten he needed to talk to someone.  
  
“I had left my bag in his room on accident, during my trip up there to wake him up and bring him to the opening ceremony. On its own, there is nothing special about it, but Emile was one of few people to be aware that I actually keep a knife in it. Figuring it was his best method of protection, he grabbed it and switch the blade open. Tom probably saw Emile reaching for the bag and feared for his own life, thinking he had walked into a trap. At this point, the two began to struggle over control of my knife, down to actually hitting each other to make the other recoil. It was during this struggle that Emile punched our mystery assailant, breaking their glasses and leaving decisive evidence behind.  
  
“As the two struggled, the killer punched Emile themselves, to weaken his hold against the knife, before moving his arm down to stab him in the gut. As they dealt the blow, the Night Time Announcement rang, signalling midnight had come. This would be the best chance for the killer to escape without being noticed as anyone who left their room faced the threat of being locked out, so long as they didn’t know about the issue with the doors. Though, in their panic, they didn’t clean up the crime scene at all, and left every trace of evidence we found. The only benefit the killer had with such a late night killing was that, by the time we would find Emile, they made themselves look like they didn’t know the crime occurred at all, by changing their clothes and glasses, and showing up when Roxie pounded on their door just like everybody else.”  
  
My eyes stare coldly at the one I believe is the killer. “Isn’t that right, **_Tom_**?!”  
  
I watched as Tom’s stance began to falter, his knees growing weak and trembling as he grabbed at his hair let out another ear-piercing screech. Everyone around covered their ears, it was just that shrill.  
  
“P-please! No more!” He shouts, tears welling up at the edges of his eyes, “I didn’t kill him! I didn’t! I-!”  
  
Despite Tom’s incessant ramblings against what I’ve just proven, MonoBagel continued to snicker behind his paws. At the same time, MonoPippy was huddled up in her cage weeping as well.  
  
“Well boys and girls, is it about time we start the voting? Have you reached a _claw-_ nclusion?” MonoBagel’s puns still grate on my ears, but unfortunately I have to agree with him here.  
  
Ari tilts her head off to the side and rests her hand to her hip. “I’m about done with this place, I’m down.”  
  
From the inside of our podiums, small machines emerge. They look to be some sort of voting machine mixed with a slot machine. That’s… disturbing.  
  
“Now then everyone!” MonoBagel cheers, “Please pull the lever in front of you to cast your vote! Make sure you picked someone!”  
  
Everyone takes a moment to put down their choice before pulling the lever on the machine. On a screen nearby an image of a slot machine starts rolling through icons of everyone that is, or was, attending Kiibocon. The slots start slowing down before all the images line up to the picture of Tom’s face. A fanfare plays and coins rain from the bottom of the slots, indicating our collective choice had been correct.  
  
Tom himself is still sputtering as we look at him, knowing for positive that he killed Emile.  
  
“Yahahahaha!” MonoBagle cackles loudly as he holds his belly, “Looks like you were all correct! The one that killed Emile, Ultimate Let’s Player, was none other than good ol’ Tom!”  
  
“I’m telling you I didn’t kill Emile! Y-you gotta believe me!” Tom wails, “I… I didn’t…”  
  
I almost feel sorry for Tom now. He’s lost all his willpower to fight back as he slumps against his podium, and weakly pounds his fist against it. It was simple self defense, Emile was always extremely paranoid about people coming in. Neither of them deserve this, just like how Sage didn’t deserve what happened to her.  
  
“You know…” Meg starts, quietly, “We… never established… _why_ Tom was there.”  
  
She’s right. I was so caught up in connecting Tom to the murder that I overlooked why he was there, though my assumption about it being about what Emile wanted to talk about is probably still correct.  
  
I turn to look at Tom, and lightly lick my lips before speaking. “Tom, why did you go to Emile’s room? What was _so important_ to talk to him about you risked going out at nearly midnight just to speak with him.”  
  
Tom was quiet, slowly picking himself up from the podium he was still at. He stared right at me, remorse present in his eyes. “I… I had made a promise.”  
  
“Now then! I’ve prepared a very special punishment for Tom O’Grady, the Ultimate 3D Animator!” MonoBagel cut in, suddenly.  
  
“W-wait!” I yell, “Don’t you dare! He hasn’t had a chance to explain himself or anything!”  
  
“Let’s give it everything we’ve got!” MonoBagel continues. It’s as if he’s not listening to me at all! “It’s… PUNISHMENT TIIIIIIIIME!”  
  
Tom looks like he’s panicking as well, “N-no! Stop! You can’t do this! Th-th-the Mastermind! They-!”  
  
Before Tom could utter another word, a metal collar launched out from a door behind him, and latched itself around his neck. It looked as though it was choking him, as he was suddenly drug away from the trial area. Whatever he was going to say is going to be lost with him… My hand reached out towards where he was being drug, as if it was going to do any good. He was already so far away by the time my hand even began to react, the chain connected to the collar pulling him down a dark hallway. It was swinging him to and fro, slamming him into the walls as he went, the faint echoes of his choked screams still barely resounding in my ears before they fade away.  
  
If that was the last I see of Tom, I would be at least relieved I wasn’t aware of his fate. However, MonoBagel was proving he is the cruelest person in this room. Around us monitors flared to life as we could see Tom finally being thrown into an empty room. There was a grid pattern on the floor and in the center was two blue and green lines intersecting in the center where a red light was being pointed straight at the floor. Tom himself was drug into the center and forced into a standing position by the collar. His hands were pulling at it, hoping to get it to loosen. Even through the grainy filter on the monitors, I could see he was slowly starting to turn blue from a lack of oxygen.  
  
A small part of me wished that MonoBagel was just going to force us to watch him hang Tom. It would be devastating, but nothing compared to what I saw instead. More chains sprang out from the walls, and latched onto his wrists and angles. From our perspective, the screen had distorted, and we saw Tom be thrown into some sort of arena. I could see see the pain and panic on his face, as a literal army of MonoBagels surrounds him.Without any sort of warning they start swarming at Tom, coming at him from all sides. He ends up batting, kicking, and headbutting them all away from him. I can see the screen distort sometimes to show that Tom is not doing any of this by his own merit. The chains and cuffs are directing his movements, like he’s some sort of human puppet.  
  
Despite his best efforts, some of the MonoBagels to manage to latch onto him and start clawing and biting at him. Though this may be some sort of green-screen simulation, Tom himself appears to be in legitimate pain. I can’t even tell anymore if the blood I’m seeing is his, or just simulated. The MonoBagel army continues to swarm him, and be it from oxygen deprivation or the chains themselves letting up, Tom is losing strength quickly. His attacks are losing power and he’s clearly unable to breathe. However, before he actually keels over I watch Tom manage to throw most of the Bagels away from him, a weak grin present on his face.   
  
A small part of me hoped that meant Tom had regained control of himself, and was going to be able to break out from his punishment. This is where I learn that any semblance of hope I gain, will be quickly replaced by despair. After getting the MonoBagels off of him, the screen distorted again as I watch as Tom reached for the collar and tried to pull it off from his neck. As soon as his hands touched the metal latched around his neck, the chains around him wrapped around his ankles and pulled taut against his wrists to pull them away his neck. At the same his head suddenly snapped back and blood gushed from his mouth.   
  
I stood dumbfounded, staring at the monitor in front of me as the camera panned down across Tom’s lifeless body. He was still in a standing position, with the collar around his neck suspending him, and his hands resting limply at his sides. I managed to catch a glimpse of various things stabbed into his neck, blood still running out from the wounds. Then, the screen cut to a black and magenta checkerboard with “ERROR” scrawled across it in giant red letters.  
  
Truly, I didn’t just witness Tom’s death… I witnessed his execution. Right in front of my own eyes, his life was ripped away from him. Everyone else was standing silently, too afraid to speak for the moment. I don’t doubt that everyone wanted to look away, but were somehow transfixed on what we just saw.  
  
“Ooh hoo hoo hoo!” MonoBagel purred, “I’ve been wanting to show that off for a while!”  
  
It seems that the sudden cut through the silence was just too much for Jon to handle for the moment. I watched him grasp onto his podium, so hard his knuckles were turning white, as he tried to keep himself from jumping MonoBagel.  
  
“Not once!” His voice was shaking, as a fist banged against the wood, “Not _once_ have you given us a chance to grieve! We didn’t get an explanation why Emile is dead! What the fuck is wrong with you!?”  
  
I could hear Jon’s tone wavering between anger and anguish. I don’t entirely blame him, though. His best friend is dead, and we never established Tom’s motive… I was just too hasty! If I had just pressed him for it during the trial, we’d know! Stupid! I’m so stupid! Just what was Emile going to ask Tom? Something about the Mastermind of this operation? Something about a promise?  
  
“Eh, don’t worry your sweet Canadian bippies there, Jon! It’s all meaningless now!” MonoBagel cackled. “I’m sure you all are just dying to get out of this musky place, eh? Continue to enjoy your communal life here, suckers!”  
  
We watched as MonoBagel flipped onto MonoPippy’s cage, and drug her away as he left. Apparently he doesn’t want us speaking to her about anything regarding this trial either. She was awfully quiet during the trial as well… Both of them even. What gives? I expected more banter, unless MonoBagel has enough sense to remain quiet to not throw in a biased opinion.  
  
“So…” Ari begins, cutting through my thoughts. “Are we going to get food…?”  
  
I’m too distraught right now to care if she’s trying to break up the mood, or is just really insensitive. Though, I do agree that going back up and getting food would at least be getting us all somewhere not here. Despite the curt delivery of her question, it seems everyone else agrees with the idea of getting out of here…  
  
I ended up losing track of time after we returned to the first floor of Zetsubo Hotel. Sometime later, after the trial, I found myself sitting in the main lobby. Jules had joined me, and was quietly strumming something. How long has he been here? I don’t recall… I’ve been too preoccupied with our situation. This new life of despair, of killing or be killed. Nonstop, I’ve been thinking about what happened to Emile. It was paranoia that killed him, but what exactly did Tom mean back there?

 

 

> _“N-no! Stop! You can’t do this! Th-th-the Mastermind! They-!”_

 

Tom knew something about the Mastermind. The one putting us through this mess. Did he know who it is? What promise was he talking about? Honestly, what did Emile have to do with it? Tom was probably some sort of mole for the Mastermind, and was tasked with killing Emile specifically. He just got super hasty with the job, it seems.  
  
That worries me now, if the Mastermind isn’t afraid to specifically ask others to kill someone. Not just that, have them give an order to kill, and it be _followed_ . Just what stake did Tom have in this? What was there to gain? I’ll never know now, because MonoBagel was sure pushy about Tom staying quiet. Maybe that means Tom was about to openly betray the Mastermind and give us an edge. That must be it. The Mastermind may start using more covert tactics now, because of Tom becoming such a wildcard. Only time will tell though.   
  
No! I can’t think like that! I have to believe in everyone here, friends and acquaintance alike. I have hope that we’ll all make it out of here alive. We just have to focus on weeding out the Mastermind, and getting rid of them! Another killing will not happen! I have to make sure of it!

 

_Survivors: 13_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, you should have expected this result


End file.
